sharp knives -- sharper tongue

Tag: zucchini bread

Yes, I know. Another quickbread. Nothing like finding a theme and sticking to it, right? Right! In any case, I am SO EXCITED to share the best. zucchini bread. evar. This is a family heirloom recipe that I have been dying to get my hands on, literally, for years. Of course, the family in question is not quite my own, so that probably has something to do with how long it’s taken me to extract the recipe. That, and having to rely on teenage boys to do… well, just about anything.
This recipe, you see, comes from Brenda, mom to the WonderTwins’ friend-since-childhood, Mikey. And we’ve been the lucky recipients of a ”brendabread”–so called by WonderTwin A–every Christmas since forever. Even now that even the WonderTwins and their friends are, well, if not ALL, then mostly grown up, a long, foil-wrapped loaf of brendabread will still magically appear right before Christmas, where it is usually demolished in seconds… by wolves. We have nothing to do with it, I swear.

This Christmas, however, I was smart enough to hide our annual brendabread in the back of the refrigerator behind some very suspect leftovers, so we could enjoy it on Christmas morning. And enjoy we did, because as always, it was SO GOOD. Really. I mean, Proustian nonsense aside, this is really great stuff. Even better, I finally managed to get the recipe itself thanks to Mikey’s very organized wife. (There’s just something about blonde first-born children, isn’t there, Martha?)

Anyway, the recipe! Its success is all about balance and a restrained touch, I think. While the bread could accommodate far more of just about everything (spice, zucchini, raisins, nuts), it’s really perfect as is. Lushly moist with an even, tender crumb, it’s not too sweet and has just enough mix-ins to keep things interesting. Their relative sparseness makes it all the more exciting when you run across a plump raisin or toasty walnut.

As always, be sure to read the notes after the recipe for additional info.